Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Health Update

I have mentioned, many times, in the past year, my struggles with my health, mood, and energy. I've felt like I was burning out, or giving up, and no matter how I struggled there was just set back after set back in terms of health and energy. March was the hardest, especially since I couldn't tell if I was using my health situation as a crutch for my laziness or if I legitimately was getting worse. Turns out I was actually getting worse!

Late in February I found out I had a large uterine fiber which was the root cause of my completely haywire, heavy, and ridiculously long periods which in turn caused anemia which lead to my low energy and diminishing strength in the past year. Early in March my doctor and I decided the best course of action was surgery, specifically a hysterectomy. (Did you know there are all sorts of ways to have a hysterectomy as well as all sorts of options for which individual organs you can keep or discard? I like to think I have à la carte lady bits now, lol.) It was a huge relief to have a cause of all my health woes and a solution. However, it seemed the closer it got to my surgery date, scheduled for early April, the worse I felt.

Of course, some of it was nerves about the procedure but nerves didn't account for my constant heavy bleeding and my essential bedrest for most of the month. I kept saying that my uterus knew it was about to yanked out and it was fighting back like the asteroid in Armageddon. It wasn't until my pre-op appointment and tests that I learned that my hemoglobin/iron stats had dropped to their lowest yet and I needed a blood transfusion before the surgery.

I really wish someone would have given me a blood transfusion months ago. In February, I had a visit with a hematologist to help treat the anemia and help find a reason why I wasn't building iron stores (the referral and appointment was made before we knew of the fibroid). He said there was no point in doing a transfusion or an iv iron supplement until the bleeding was under control. On one hand I can see his point, anything they would've given me, would have just bleed out over time. On the other hand, the anemia was severely affecting my life and any type of stop gap measure would have been welcomed. Maybe I should have argued more on my behalf but I didn't have the energy.

Honestly, from the first bag of blood they pumped in me, I have felt better. Leaps and bounds better. Better everyday. AND THE VERY NEXT DAY I HAD SURGERY. Seriously, immediately post-op, I felt better than I had the previous week.

I call this post-op sexy

A couple of days later, I felt better than in months. Today, I can't remember the last time I felt this good.

I had a Da Vinci laparoscopic hysterectomy, which means I had five small incisions (they make the shape of a rainbow!) in my abdomen, instead of one long incision, and a shorter recovery time but there was still plenty of pain. It's been almost a month since the surgery and I still have some pain, though significantly less, and I'm not 100% capable of all the physical things I could do before, but it's not for lack of energy. I have bounds and bounds of energy and good mood I'm only frustrated now for what my body can physically handle. But my recovery has been steady and I've had no major set backs.

During recovery, when I was still under doctor ordered bed rest, I got plenty of sun and I kept myself busy with adult coloring pages.

Also, I made plans, then more plans, then plans within plans. I'm not going forward as fast I would hope after the initial two weeks of recovery but at last I'm finally going forward. I'm out of the quicksand that kept stealing my effort and energy and I'm ready to blast full steam ahead in to the future.

Here's what means for you -

Tons of revisions: This spring/summer I'm working on The Horrorphile (only 1 letter different the original title The Horrorphiles) and PB+J